office 3 6 5* - (Oct/24/2013 )

I've the possibility to get Office 365 (University) quite cheap, but not sure if i want to use it. I.e what are the differences to Office 2013? Is it trustworthy (data protection etc)? Can I use it without internet connection and all that for me useless stuff such as social networking and online collaboration.

Where are my files then, online or on my computer (or both)?

What happens when the subscription is not renewed?

Is it the same as Google docs i.e. usable with webbrowser only (since both are called Online office suites) or do I have a "normal" installed office with some online features?

Thanks for any advice.

-hobglobin-

nobody replied? seems as nobody uses it then, also a finding...

-hobglobin-

My understanding of Office 365 is that you still get the offline applications, but you can also access a web-based suite from computers that don't have Office installed. I believe the subscription also includes access to the mobile version of Office at no additional cost. The security of any cloud storage is obviously only as good as the company that provides it, so one would assume that Microsoft would have decent protections in place.

The subscription model is the hitch. On the bright side, as long as you maintain the subscription to 365, you automatically get upgrades to new versions of the applications as they come out. However, my understanding is that when you end the subscription, you lose Office entirely, even the offline programs. To my mind, that's the biggest drawback to the new business model of "Software as a Service" (Saas). Basically, you no longer own the software, you pay an annual fee to continue to have permission to use it.

-gfischer-

thanks for the infos, it fits to my idea about it...

anyway here you get it for 4 years for 1.65€ per month and can install it on two computers (which would be okay as after 4 years a software is anyway almost outdated), and this weird streaming and even more weird cloud stuff for free...I'm quite sure I don't want to use this without additional encryption of my files

-hobglobin-

I don't think the software getting outdated is a problem. I believe that one of the perks of the SaaS model is that when Office 2016 (or whenever they get around to an update) comes out you would get access to the new version automatically as part of the subscription. Again, however, once you end the subscription, you are left with nothing, not even the old version of the software.

I'm dubious about the cloud applications as well for security reasons. I don't know what their security measures are as far as encrypted files, but I would assume that you can opt to only store files locally, and forgo the online storage entirely. If not, that would pretty well turn me off of using Office entirely.

Have you ever looked at something like LibreOffice? It's a free, open source software package that aims to provide equivalent functionality to the entire Office suite. I think it may still technically be in beta, so use at your own risk.

-gfischer-

Well if I can use another 4 years subscription with a new version it would be okay (if i want this still) and if not I can use the free software which opens the office files too (though there are surely conversion problems)...and yes I use Openoffice too from time to time but not really happy with it and most want a doc-file (or docx) and not odt (especially my boss )....

-hobglobin-

Yeah, the free programs tend to not play well with people who use Office (or perhaps it's really the other way around). I've not played with Libre Office much personally, but it's supposed to be able to save files in Microsoft formats (.docx, etc.). I'm personally not a fan of the whole software subscription model in general, so if Microsoft goes the same direction Adobe has, with ongoing subscriptions being the only option, I may just make the transition, at least on my personal machine.

-gfischer-

yes the software subscription model is not that good but as long as it's cheap enough I might try to go with it...so far I work with office 2003 and it's time for a change now...and the open programs are no alternative for me or only when I'm retired